Gravity Enduro's

Anyone on here done any of these races?
Iv done a few Dh races over the last 12 months and although i do enjoy them i just feel a bit short changed on how much time you actually spend on the bike. I was talkin to a mate at the weekend who races Dh and has done a few Gravity Enduro races and he says they were proper hard work with not much time between the stages and he also said he had heard they were goin to reduce the linkin times for 2013, is this true? are they really difficult to get to each stage in time? So how fit do you need to be exactly to be able to enjoy the event?
Im also unsure on bike choice, i currently use an Orange 5 with coil lyriks for all my pedaly type riding, would this be enough of a bike for all the events in the uk or would i need to get something with a bit more travel on the rear??
Also, i cant find any info on any events for 2013 and heard on the grapevine that the Fetish series is no more. Is this true? and what other events are their ??
Hope someone can shed some light on my lack of knowledge.
Cheers 😀

I did one of the mega enduro events. Total riding time was about 50 minutes.
Time between stages was small so that all riders could get through but that was part of the experience and meant that people on bigger bikes struggled usually pushing uphill.
The entry fee was £50 plus insurance. Combine that with all the money spent prepping your bike and getting to the event, it is a lot of cash for 50 minutes racing so i never did another.

I know exactly what you mean re DH. most race days i’ve been to i’ve managed 3 practice runs and 2 race runs. Take a look at the Exmoor gravity for next year. 2 days for 35 quid if booked early including a free pair of pads and a pint: day 1, session one descent, quickest time counts, 3.5 minute run, 40+ minute climb, then the next day was maybe a 30/40km loop(?) around some of Exmoors finest including the day 1 timed section and 2 others, nothing technical but eyewateringly fast and fun, and doable on any bike.
no doubt someone will be along in a moment to whine about the timing cock ups and how in that last run they would have definitely beaten Fabien Barel, but i thought it was a really good event. Plus it was sponsored by Exmoor Ales.

I’ve done most of the ones at Innerleithen, they’ve all been absolutely superb. I’ve done a bit of downhill racing but tbh most races mean spending a weekend largely doing bugger all, and also it’s pretty biased towards the top boys. Whereas enduro is more time on the bike, more varied riding (ie not just one route several times), and IME is great fun even if you’re an also-ran.

It can mean very different things, though… The inners events use a relatively simple, straightforward approach which works really well, otoh other events do timed liaison stages, full seeding etc which makes things a bit trickier and is where problems with getting round come in.

Steve Parr’s national gravity enduro series- formerly Fetish Enduro Series, not sure who’s sponsoring next year- was briefly canned but he’s continuing it, which is great- might actually get to ride a round or two next year 😛 And looks like a second national series is on its way. Also more scheduled at the start of the year at Inners, which is a fantastic venue.

So I’ve done 3 of the main series ones this year – Coed Y Brenin, Eastridge, Dyfi and i’ve also done the exmoor one.
I just absolutely love the idea of gravity enduro, I was riding around the three rounds I did at a fairly sedate pace and had plenty of time before my runs. Ok you need a certain level of fitness but i don’t think its that high. Having said that innerleithen was 25km with 1500m climbing? and dyfi was 38km with 1400m…

Your Orange five is spot on perfect I reckon. any idea on weight? it might be tough if you’ve got cheap DH wheels and 2.7″ dual plys but if its a sensible build then spot on.
I can’t get over how fun the Dyfi stages were and eastridge was brilliant fun too. Coed-y-brenin was boring but hey its usable in all weathers (as proven this year in 3°C driving rain)

Exmoor was interesting, started off as 4 tracks/stages, found out one was repeated so down to 3 tracks, then another was not timed as it was a bridleway, then another had timing difficulties so only timed on one stage and that was problematic too. shame as the trails were pretty good there.

Blimey, was that you in the vid of the Mondraker Gravity Enduro? who ever it was, they were shiftin. The Exmoor one sounds good too as i love natural trails 🙂
My 5 is 35lbs, which is a bit heavy i know but it has got a dropper post, dh (ish) wheels, hope v2’s (heavy rotors) and coil forks.
It may need to go on a bit of a diet soon.
Cheers for the info so far peeps 🙂

Yeah me in both vids, editing some more as we speak.
My Last Herb FR for Coed-y-brenin was 36lbs with totems up front, depends what you’re happy pedalling with. Its now down to around 32lbs on a good day (single ring up front, bos devilles).
And there is no shortage of natural riding on these enduros, that first descent on the dyfi vid was freshly cut for the event. and did you watch the full dyfi vid? feel free to skip to 4:20 in that vid for the end of the boring pedalling and into a scary as hell descent – http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=mYuHhPGbMjs#t=260s

Done quite a few of these now – including some rounds of Steve Parr’s series, the Enduro1 series and several internationals including SuperEnduro.

For me, the beauty is that it truly is a test of the best all round rider – transition cutoffs mean you have to be fit enough to get round with enough in the tank to then gun it on the downs, so it doesn’t favour a pure DH racer who might not have tons of stamina. By the opposite count, the DH focus means that unlike XC or marathon racing, you’re unlikely to find a roadie or CX racer with zero technical skill dominating just on the basis of legs & lungs.

I like the fact it is a bit of a tactical format too – finding the balance with energy management, bike preservation etc takes some calculation…….

36lbs? Wow, your 5 is heavier than my (pretty much) stock Alpine 160, I bet it can take a proper beating. Anyway, it’s not about the bike weight, but the engine powering it, you’ll still probably be quicker than me on the climbs 🙂

Scottfitz, im from the Malverns mate near worcester, so iv got a really good trainig ground on my door step.
Zero cool, its 35lbs but it does still pedal ok (im used to heavy bikes).
Im currently workin on my stamina, as iv just quit smoking after 18 years abusing my lungs, so hopefully in a few months ill be much fitter than i am now (which isnt to bad tbh) and plan on gettin loads of miles in as well as swimming and the gym for core strength. 🙂

I did the fetish round at eastridge and enduro 1 at tidworth, much prefer the two day format at eastridge but both were fun.
Used to do dh years ago, this type of event is a good mix of skill and fitness (both need working on in my case!)and lots more riding for your money.
Bike choice seem to vary but what you`ve got sounds good.
I really want to do some more next year but heard that you may need a full face helmet.(?)
I`m looking to get a decent full face anyway, not sure what would be suitable though. Can anyone recommend any?

Though, it’s a little odd as some of the comments suggested that was a BC requirement, but BC told me there’s no such requirement- it’s on the cards but hasn’t been confirmed yet. They were waiting for the UCI policy to come out, and the UCI policy’s supposedly going nowhere fast. And tbh I don’t think BC have a full understanding of the racing.

If full-faces do become unavoidable I won’t be delighted, but I’ll be really unhappy with “helmets all the time”- ie, you must wear a full face for the timed stages, and also you have to wear a helmet for the fire-road climbing. So either climb in a fullface, or carry 2 helmets.

Loved them both. ~3 hours of riding with a few balls out sections thrown in.

I was sceptical about the ‘riding the sections blind’ approach. In the end I think it is great concept. Means 1 day away (bonus if you have a family) and a brings trail reading skills into the mix. The other series have practice days the day before. Both approaches have merit

Will be doing some more next year. Most fun I have had racing in the UK.

Bike wise. Did both on my Nicolai AM. Was probably a little ‘over biked’ for both but not massively so. Almost any bike will work ok but would suggest the five is pretty close to perfect.

If full-faces do become unavoidable I won’t be delighted, but I’ll be really unhappy with “helmets all the time”- ie, you must wear a full face for the timed stages, and also you have to wear a helmet for the fire-road climbing. So either climb in a fullface, or carry 2 helmets

Which is the same as the Super Enduro’s. You just strap the one you’re not using onto your backpack.

With comments being banded around of the difficulty & speed of stages being increased I certainly felt exposed on some of the Dyfi stages just wearing a Xen.

Absolutely, and that’s a choice you always had. And also, it’s something race organisers have always been free to impose themselves.

But o’course this rule if it goes ahead would apply to all BC enduros, not just the hardest ones. I didn’t see a single person choose a full face for the Tweedlove enduro frinstance- it was stifling hot and had 2 climbing stages, and 2 of the other stages were entirely on trailcentre stuff. Simply not suited.

Enduro’s too varied for one set of rules to work for all IMO. And personally I don’t feel like I need a helmet to ride slowly up a fire road.

Yeah, I’m keenly looking forward to riding the innerleithen classic in february with a helmet strapped to my back and getting it filled with mud, then squelching it back on at the bottom to ride up a fire road. Sounds like progress.

I can see an argument for fullfaces, though I strongly disagree with it being introduced as a universal BC rule. But what is the argument for helmets for climbing?

scottfitz – Both the Gravity Enduro series and the BDS Enduros are going to be full-face only.

I think that a Mistake by the organiser, Give people option to choose. When i did the hopton GE 95% of people were using open face and those that had full face don’t wear them on the climbs. Let’s hope organiser and BC see sense.

Re: the full face thing – if you had seen the state of the guy I stopped to help at the Mondraker Enduro (he had used his face as a brake on a timed stage), you’d see the sense in it.

Speeds and technicality are not far from a normal UK DH race, but factor in smaller bikes and tiredness leading to mistakes, and it is a recipe for bad things happening. Remember that landowners/FC etc are typically pretty risk averse, so it’s not just the organisers being cautious, it is them thinking about making sure next year has somewhere to host the rounds.

Had no problem at all with 2 helmets in Italy for SuperEnduro. And that was over 50k with 2000m of climbing, so a UK enduro will be no worries.

Will you wear a full face?
Do you own a full face?
Would you still race if full faces were mandatory?

No, but might have to if i wan’t to enter.
Yes
No, Unless all enduro events enforce FF, But if they don’t i will pick and choose.
I would still like to race and i am really ugly anyway, so i think i will be fine in a open face.

As in “amount of time on a bike lugging a full face helmet on your back tortoise style” because I have seen lots of whinging about that on other forums and FB 😉

What I’d like to see, at the very least, is an entrant survey for a few representative events, with 3 simple questions-

Will you wear a full face?
Do you own a full face?
Would you still race if full faces were mandatory?

That’s not a bad idea.

And if they do make it compulsory, then there would be good cause to get a helmet sponsor onboard like Mega have with Bluegrass. Sell a cut price helmet through the event’s website, helping riders get a good deal on something they need, while also generating revenue for the organiser and gaining market share for the helmet sponsor. Win/win/win 🙂

I’m planning next year as though I have to wear a full face at all times, planning on buying an urge archi-enduro.
I’d prefer no rules on transition and I’d prefer not to have to carry 2 helmets. I’ll be buying a £15 jobbie if I do, have to buy a new one every round if you like crashing!

and please don’t tell me you’d be happy riding as fast as you can, down this, with an open helmet:

Full face helmet will be compulsary on stages and a helmet must be worn at all times on transitions.
The transition route will also be monitored in 2013, no short cutting of the loop, especially not being uplifted!
Time penalties will be applied for late starters on stages and any cheating on stages, as in round 3, will result in instant DQ.
We have been pretty leniant for the first 2 years, but some people have pushed my patience this year.
The Industry backing for 2013 is amazing, we have support sponsors already and should have news on title sponsor very shortly. Category sponsorship will be open soon to.
The futures bright, the futures Gravity Enduro 🙂